World Food Day: Where does the Nigerian farmer stand?

According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the theme “has been chosen to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farmers.”The government of President Goodluck Jonathan launched the Agricultural Transformation Agenda in 2011 with a target of scaling up domestic food production to 20 million metric tonnes by 2015. […]

According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the theme “has been chosen to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farmers.”
The government of President Goodluck Jonathan launched the Agricultural Transformation Agenda in 2011 with a target of scaling up domestic food production to 20 million metric tonnes by 2015. This is to cut down the country’s food import bill of $11 billion annually.  With less than one year to the target date, the minister of agriculture announced that the current food production stands at 21 million metric tonnes; and that the country’s food import bill has dropped from $11 billion to $4.3 billion.
While many experts believe the country’s performance in the agricultural sector is encouraging in recent years, particularly in crops like cassava and rice, others are of the opinion that a lot needs to be done in areas like horticulture, cocoa, groundnut, wheat farming and so on.
Cassava and cassava bread initiative
Cassava is one root crop that has received significant attention in the Agricultural Transformation Agenda. As the largest producer of cassava in the world, Nigeria has potential to become number one global player in the export of cassava products. The Cassava Bread Initiative which was started by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, received N10 billion (from wheat tariff) to encourage the substitution of wheat flour with cassava flour in bread making – using at least 20% composite cassava flour in bread which, according to the minister, will save Nigeria N127 billion annually.
Cassava farmers have received N2.4 billion loan at 5% interest rate from the fund. A number of processing zones for cassava have been established in Kabba/Bunu in Kogi State. Cargill, one of the world’s largest food companies is exploring the possibility of establishing a cassava processing plant in the area, but investigation shows there’s nothing yet on ground that will encourage the farmers.
Some Nigerians are worried that laying so much emphasis on cassava flour in the bakery at the expense of wheat production and consumption might escalate the figures of the already growing population of people with diabetes in the country.  
Some poultry farmers also stressed that cassava produced in the country does not meet the standard for chicken feed. In the same vein, some bakers who spoke with Daily Trust recently said cassava flour does not rise like wheat flour in bread, and that the bread made from cassava cannot last more than two days without going bad.
But Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, minister of agriculture, told the nation last year that government has secured a contract for 3.2 million metric tonnes for Nigerian dried cassava chips from Chinese importers to China and Europe, from which the country could generate between $802 million and $1.37 billion. Nothing again has been heard about the contract.
The songs about rice production
In terms of rice production, a many billions have so far been spent by the present administration to increase production. According to Olukayode Oyeleye, Special Assistant to the Minister for Agriculture on media, about N30 billion has so far been spent by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the Growth Enhancement Support to help Nigerian rice farmers increase their output by over 2.8 million metric tonnes of rice paddies, bringing the nation nearer to self-sufficiency in food production.
Interventions under the agricultural transformation agenda in the 2012 wet season and 2012/2013 dry season led to an additional 1.409 million metric tonnes of paddies or 916,137 tonnes of milled rice from 403,222 hectares of cultivated land.
According to him, the 2013 wet season and 2013/2014 dry season output estimated at 2.96 million metric tonnes of paddy is expected to produce 1.92 metric tonnes of milled rice from 802,108 hectares of land.
“Producing rice worth N149.512 billion gross value of paddies and net value of N79.691 billion during original attempt was no mean feat as 751,248 rural jobs, were created by local rice production, while gross value doubled to N313,784,882,555 and net value doubled to N175,020,285,055 the following year.
“These had strong economic impact on the lives of farmers, unemployed youth and agro-dealers, in form of increased household income, employment and improved livelihoods arising from an inflow of N254 billion from the 2012 and 2013 wet and dry rice season farming,” Oyeleye said.
On January 20, 2014, the president announced a N14 billion grant to support dry season rice production across the country. Some of the dry season farmers who converged at the banquet hall of the Presidential Villa said they have not received any financial assistance from the ministry. They, however, acknowledge receiving three bags of fertiliser each.
The acting National President of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, told Daily Trust that apart from the three bags of fertiliser sold to registered rice farmers at subsidised rate and the free rice seed which most farmers did not use due to its very low yield, he was not aware of any rice farmer in the country that got a loan facilitated by the federal government.
At the Bakalori irrigation project in Talata Mafara, Zamfara State, over 36,000 rice farmers still demand high yielding seed, adequate fertiliser, herbicides and insecticides to be able to produce 500,000 tonnes from the 32,000 hectares project. That is not forthcoming because the seeds they get do not give maximum output like those of expatriate farmers in the country.
In fact some farmers complained that there are better rice varieties like FARO 61, from which a farmer can reap many times in a season than the one government is giving to them. They said instead of government engaging the respective research institutes to supply improved seeds, it (government) preferred to deal with contractors for reasons only those doing the hiring know.
The set back on wheat production
One of the cardinal goals of the present administration was to halt the importation of wheat and step up local production. But wheat farmers across Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina and other states complained that the seeds they received had low yield and that government has so far failed in its buy-back policy designed to encourage production in the country.
According to Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, wheat consumption stood at 1.4 million metric tonnes in 1980. By year 2000, the consumption grew to 1.9 million metric tonnes.  However, in 2010 wheat consumption reached a record high of 4.5 million metric tonnes.
The nation is yet to see a robust policy on wheat despite having a research institute that can produce the quality seeds that have high yield. It is pertinent to note that even Nigerian bakers stressed that imported wheat has better quality. So where are we getting it wrong on wheat?
The country’s wheat import bill grew to N635 billion by 2011. Government has done a little to encourage small holder farmers in wheat production. In fact, interaction with farmers recently in TalataMafara, Zamfara State, where the federal government owns the Bakalori Irrigation project indicates that farmers are considering abandoning wheat farming because of what they called unavailability of high yielding seeds and the absence of market couple with failure of government to implement the buy-back policy.
Bakers also complained of the low quality of wheat produced locally in bread making adding that the imported wheat flour gives them better quality and quantity in baking.
Tomato production as at today
For tomato production, Nigeria is the 14th largest producer of tomatoes in the world and 2nd only to Egypt in Africa at 1.51 million metric tons valued at N87.0billion (USD556.1 million) with a cultivated area of 264,430 hectares. Yet the nation imports 65,809 tonnes of processed tomato worth N11.7 billion annually. This, experts believe, is as a result of dysfunctional agricultural value chain system leading to about 50 per cent of our local produce being lost.
Professor E. B. Amans of the Institute for Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in his submission noted that Nigeria occupies 16th position in the world, 2nd in Africa and the 1st in West Africa in terms of tomato output.
“Despite these the country’s tomato yield is disappointingly below what it could potentially achieve. For example, in 2011, while Nigeria produced 1,861,900 metric tons from cultivated area of 264, 100 hectares, Egypt cultivated about the same land areas (216 400ha) to produce 8, 547,200 metric tons which is 4.6 times Nigeria’s output. This is simply because the estimated annual average yield per hectare of tomato in Nigeria was very low at 7.1 tonnes per hectare compared with 39.5 tonnes per hectare for Egypt,” Bako said.
Tomato is the most prominent vegetable in the world with no known ethnic or religious consumption barriers. It is consumed across all ages, religion and social classes.
According to sources from the Vegefresh Company – a fresh vegetable company based in Lagos – Nigeria produced about 2.1 million metric tons in 2012 compared to 1.701 million tonnes produced in 2008. This is about 24% increase in output. More than 50% is lost to post-harvest wastage annually.
Nigeria imports an average of about 77.767 million dollars’ worth of tomato every year, making the country one of the highest importers of the product in the world.
The issue of high quality seeds that have longer life span still eludes farmers across the country.
So much has been said about setting up processing plants by private sector across the value chains; yet the tomatoes from Kadawa valley in Kano and other places across the country are still wasting away.
Neglected powerful poultry and fishery subsectors
About 25% of the total contribution of agriculture to the GDP comes from the poultry sub-sector. Yet government does not have substantial policy for the industry despite the fact that every household in the rural areas grows chicken in its domain.
The current poultry products cannot even meet the local consumption demand. Thousands of metric tonnes of the poultry products are brought into the country through our porous borders under unhygienic conditions.
Also, the nation’s demand for fish consumption is far beyond local production. 1.8 million metrictonnes of foreign fish products which cost about N125.38 billion annually come into the country.
Government must go beyond import ban, by encouraging and supporting sustainable growth of the subsector. You can only ban importation if you have enough to also export.
What about other crops?
Virtually all the crops produced in Nigeria in commercial quantities have a research institute that is responsible for its genetic improvement. Yet the issue of high quality seeds is the bane of agriculture in Nigeria. The question one asks therefore is: Does government fund these research institutes properly to produce improved seeds?
What policy does government have about crops like yams, beans – which can improve the health of the population – ginger, maize, millet, sorghum, flowers -which other nations generate millions from – groundnut, turmeric and so on? Farmers here are almost cut off from government attention and assistance.
Time to go beyond current input support to smallholder farmers
Government must also re-examine its current input subsidies to farmers. Many farmers across the country insist that two bags of fertiliser (1bag NPK and 1bag Urea) have little impact on their crop yield. This input falls short of international standard for the quantity of fertiliser to apply in one hectare of land as done in Thailand, Philippines and other countries. In these countries, farmers use as many as eight bags per hectare, this is responsible for high yield they record.
The inputs must also be made available before the beginning of the farming season, which calls for timely release of agric budget.
Quality seed is a key to high yield. Only certified seeds from renowned research institutes should find their way to the small holder farmers and should be made available to farmers. If farmers are supported beyond the current subsidy level, this will scale up production.
Huge sums of money have so far been spent by the federal government in the implementation of the federal government agricultural transformation agenda allegedly to enhance agricultural production. Unfortunately, most Nigerian smallholder farmers cannot still access agricultural loan, a good market for their produce and inputs for mechanized farming.